Audits design

Human Factors Engineering/Ergonomics approach (control of error by design, audit, and feedback of operational experience) Occupational/process safety Manual/control operations Routine operation Task analysis Job design Workplace design Interface design Physical environment evaluation Workload analysis Infrequent... 

Besides outcome measures, interviews represent a possible data-collection method. Whether directed or not (e.g., Sinclair 1990) they can produce critical incidents, human factors examples, or networks of communication (e.g., Drury 1990a), which have vrilue as part of an audit procedure. Interviews are routinely used as part of design audit procedures in large-scale operations such as nuclear power plants (Kirwan 1989) or naval systems (Mrilone et al. 1988). 

Hardware/Software Design Audit. The standards references in this group include sections that ... 

In New Zealand, where local authorities are obliged to have their road and traffic designs audited, the cost of undertaking audits is an issue for smaller authorities. 

In many ways, environmental audits are the easiest and most acceptable type of evaluation. In fact, regular environmental or housekeeping audits are already standard practice at most companies. These evaluations can often be improved by involving more employees in designing audit forms, conducting systematic and regular assessments, and posting the results in relevant work areas. 

The energy audit has seven components as-it-is balance, field survey, equipment tests, checking against optimum design, idea-generation meeting, evaluation, and foUow-up. 

Follow-Up. If no savings result, the effort has been wasted. Thus the audit leader must ensure that the potential of every good design idea is recognized by management and the project-generation channels of the company. 

The second aspect of quahty documentation is to detail how the work processes referred to in the manual are performed. The QA unit is often the organization responsible for issuing a set of procedures designed to assure conformance to the appropriate standards or to company poHcy. The procedures, often called standard operation procedures (SOP) or quahty operating procedures (QOP), should include such topics as customer complaints, audit protocols, stabihty testing, preparation of COAs, test method vahdation, etc. 

Follow up at regular intervals (for example, during audits) to see that the recommendations made after accidents are being followed, in design as well as operations. 

Introduction Review and audit processes are used in the chemical process industry to evaluate, examine, and verify the design of process equipment, operating procedures, and management systems. These processes assure compliance with company standards and guidelines as well as government regulations. Reviews and audits can encompass the areas of process and personnel safety, environmental and industrial hygiene protection, quality assurance, maintenance procedures, and so on. 

To distinguish between a review and an audit, some definitions will be provided. A review is a critical examination or evaluation of any operation, procedure, condition, event, or equipment item. Reviews can take many forms and be identified as project reviews, design reviews, safety reviews, pre-start-up reviews, and so on. The following discussion of the review process will deal with project reviews associated with capital projects and focus on the area of process safety. 

A basie safety audit eovering design and system of work features to be eovered for the loading/ unloading of non-pressurized hazardous liquids to/from tankers of tank eontainers is given in Table 15.18. 

The safety status of the process should be periodically reviewed against the guiding principles for the original design. Monitoring of add-ons can detect potentially dangerous modifications. Process hazards analysis or process safety audits are useful tools for this review. Documentation of inherently safer principles is critical to ensure that future changes don t nullify the positive features of the initial installation. 

---